Also known as: immovable properties · immovables
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An interest in land or things so related to land as to be legally regarded as part of it. The category excludes property whose location can be changed and is used to distinguish rules governing transfers and choice of law from those applicable to chattels.
Ibrahim Iqbal, a manager at Iris Energy, signed and recorded a deed conveying a company-owned parcel to a creditor to settle his personal debt. The transfer was unauthorized by the board. Prosecutors charged him with theft because the statute reaches unlawful transfers of immovable property made to benefit a person not entitled to the interest.
Ingrid Innes purchased coastal land in State B from a seller domiciled in State A under a contract designating State A law. A neighbor later asserted a prescriptive easement based on decades of use entirely within State B. The court applied the law of the situs to determine whether an interest in the immovable had been acquired.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Imani Idowu and Integrity Partners negotiated a mortgage on land located in State B while both parties were domiciled in State A. After default the lender sought to enforce redemption rights. Because the property was immovable the court evaluated contacts under the most significant relationship test to select the governing law.
Ike Ingram conveyed land situated in State B to Icarus Aviation under a contract formed in State A. When a dispute arose over title the forum court applied the full law of State B including its choice of law rules so that the outcome would match the result a State B court would reach on the same facts.
Isaiah Ishikawa a U.S. resident inherited immovable property located in a foreign country. State probate rules conditioned the inheritance on reciprocity with the foreign nation. The Supreme Court held that the state statute impermissibly interfered with federal foreign affairs power when applied to interests in the immovable.
Theft of immovable property occurs when a person unlawfully transfers land or any interest in it with the purpose of benefiting himself or another not entitled to the interest. Theft of movable property requires an unlawful taking or exercise of control with purpose to deprive the owner. The immovable form focuses on the transfer itself rather than permanent deprivation.
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Yes. An easement is a nonpossessory interest in land. Executing a document that creates an easement over another's property without authority and for the benefit of an unentitled party satisfies the elements of theft by unlawful transfer of immovable property.
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Interests in immovables are determined by the law of the state where the immovable is located. That reference includes the totality of the situs state's law including its choice of law rules so that the forum reaches the same result a court of the situs would reach.
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Yes. When a manager without authority executes and records a deed transferring title from the true owner to an LLC she controls she has unlawfully transferred immovable property with the purpose of benefiting herself or an entity not entitled to the interest.
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…due. II Article IV of the 1923 treaty with Germany provides: "Where, on the death of any person holding real or other immovable property or interests therein within the territories of one High Contracting Party, such property or interests therein would, by the laws of the country or by a testamentary disposition, descend or…